The Rockies and Mets split the doubleheader

Márquez wavered and the Rockies offense never got it going in the first game, but then the offense exploded in game two.

Game 1: Mets 5, Rockies 1: A tough way to start the day

Between the Rockies bats being unable to figure out the Mets arms and Germán Márquez not having his best command, there was very little to get excited about for Rockies fans in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, as they fell to the visiting Mets 5-1.

Márquez misses, but recovers

Germán Márquez has struggled with fastball command all season, and that didn’t change as he took the mound to begin his outing on Saturday. He left consecutive fastballs in the middle of the zone to open the game, resulting in a Brandon Nimmo base hit and Starling Marte home run to quickly put the visitors up 2-0. In an admittedly sweet moment, Marte (who was recently activated from the bereavement list after the loss of his grandmother) was emotional as he crossed the base paths and looked upward as he scored the run.

The second frame didn’t start much better, as Dominic Smith reached on a throwing error by José Iglesias and moved to second on Luis Guillorme’s base hit (on an 0-2 count). They would both score thanks to Patrick Mazeika’s double (who had also begun his at-bat down 0-2 but battled back to 2-2 before punching a belt-high fastball to right field). Down 4-0 with no outs recorded in the top of the second inning, this had the makings of a nightmare appearance for Márquez.

Interestingly, though, he settled in after these two frames. He began to work in his secondary pitches to great effect and really settled in. After getting out of trouble in the third inning, Márquez struck out four consecutive Mets (one of which was the 850th punchout of his career, moving him into sole possession of second place on the Rockies’ all-time Ks list) and did not allow another run until the sixth inning. His seven strikeouts tie a season-high, and his 102 pitches are the most he’s thrown this year. After a very rough start, the Venezuelan righty battled back to record a halfway decent outing.

Snow in May? Bats stay cold

It wasn’t just the weather that was chilly on Saturday, as the Rockies offense struggled to find any fire. They had some chances against Mets starter Carlos Carrasco – they had two runners on in the first and third innings, and had at least one base runner in all but one of his 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of work – but failed to capitalize.

The bottom of the first inning was a prime example, as Connor Joe started things off with a base hit. Charlie Blackmon flew out before Kris Bryant, playing in his 900th career game and making his return to the Rockies lineup after some time on the IL, reached on an infield single. Colorado couldn’t take advantage, however, as C.J. Cron flew out and Ryan McMahon grounded out to end the threat.

The Rockies would score a run in the sixth inning via an Iglesias infield single (while facing former Rockie Adam Ottavino), but this would not be enough to overcome the deficit.

Not all doom and gloom

There were some bright sides to Saturday’s loss. One was Yonathan Daza, who continues to rake in his opportunities. He’s hitting .368 on the season and extended his hit streak to 12 games with a single. C.J. Cron also had a nice game as he recorded three hits, which is his 16th multi-hit game of the season.

Jhoulys Chacín and Carlos Estévez, both struggling on the season, pitched well. Chacín tossed two innings and allowed no runs on a walk and a hit, while Estévez threw a clean inning of his own. It’s small, but it’s good to see them both take strides.

★ ★ ★

Game Two: Rockies 11, Mets 3: Explosive sixth inning for the win.

CJ Cron & Brian Serven started off hot

In the bottom of the first inning CJ Cron decided to start the game off with a bang — a two-run home run to give the Rockies an early lead. (Not to brag, but I totally called that one while he was stepping up to the plate.)

I was nervous in the second inning because the Mets tied the game up, but not to worry, Brian Serven had our back with a two-run home run to give the Rockies the lead again.

The things that felt like they hurt, but didn’t really

In the top of the sixth inning, the Rockies gave up a run after Ashton Goudeau deflected a pitch. Sloppy defense felt like it was back again. The lead dropped to one-run, which is never a solid lead at Coors Field. There are too many variables.

The sixth inning of glory

The the Rockies cut the deficit again. An RBI-double from Sam Hilliard gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead. Insurance runs, they’re important. So much so the Rockies weren’t done yet.

A throwing error allowed Sam Hilliard to score. But that’s not it! Who else loves a two-out rally? Brian Serven homered again! Fun fact, Serven joins ranks with Trevor Story:

And if you want to see both of the home runs again, here they are in all their glory.

The inning continued with RBI-singles from Ryan McMahon, Randal Grichuck, and Brendan Rodgers giving the Rockies the final score of 11-3.

As I mentioned in my game thread earlier the Rockies were evenly split on doubleheaders with the Mets. That trend continues. They are now 11-11 all-time in doubleheaders against the New York Mets. The Rockies and Mets split doubleheaders, confirmed.

Up Next

The Rockies and Mets will finish the series tomorrow with a rubber match. Austin Gomber (2-3, 4.38 ERA) is the probably starter for the Rockies, and the Mets will send Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.52 ERA) to the mound.

First pitch is at 1:10pm MDT. See you then!